Ansel Elgort has been offered the role of Augustus Waters—the male lead opposite Shailene Woodley—in the eagerly anticipated adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars,directed by Josh Boone. Green’s beloved, best-selling book is a love story that is equal parts funny, sweet, and heartbreaking in its telling of Hazel and Gus, two teens who meet in a cancer support group. (EW had it on the Best Fiction of 2012 list)

“Ansel is whip-smart and uber-charismatic and everything I dreamed for Augustus Waters,” John Green tells EW in an exclusive statement. “I am by nature a cautious pessimist, but I’ll just say it: Now that we have Shailene and Ansel, I am completely, unreservedly psyched about this movie.”

Director Josh Boone tells EW: “Ansel Elgort is the epitome of the boy John Green brought to life so vividly in his novel and he truly embodies the character traits we admire so much about Gus. His humor, sensitivity, honesty and confidence floored us. Watching him with Shailene was like seeing the film for the first time. Hearing then say okay to each other was incredibly moving. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have found our Gus.”

Elgort, 19, will be seen in the remake of Carrie this fall and is currently at work playing Caleb Prior alongside Woodley (who plays his sister) on Divergent—adapted from the Veronica Roth bestseller. Says The Fault in Our Stars producer Wyck Godfrey: “We were all swept away by the humor, charm, and aching vulnerability Ansel brought to his portrayal of Gus. His performance completely annihilated our concerns about his playing Caleb in Divergent with Shailene, and we are confident that the fans of Fault will fall in love with him the same way that Hazel does–slowly, and then all at once.”

The book will be adapted for the screen by (500) Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber. Production is due to begin in August.